Wormy

Or do we? Storyboarding can have a role in Object-Oriented Analysis and Design; in any design technique, really. Class (prototype for an object, not character) interface interaction can, at times, benefit from a storyboarding session. What was the point again?

Often, posters intent on appearing mysterious yet enlightened instead come off as inebriated and ostentatious. Note, however, that I do not consider myself above the sting of the indictment I make. This is eq2flames, after all.

Deson

Ok, call me stupid but, the large scale planning is just fine. Where everything breaks down is execution and that's not a lack of planning, it's a lack of being able to see when shit goes south and won't be recoverable. Storyboarding is like planning a road trip, their fuck-ups lie in not changing when there's traffic or an accident. Hell even right now I could storyboard launch eq2 as gold but it won't turn it from the shit it was. What does the planning process matter when the problem is execution?

They made a bad choice in choosing to support a system when it was obvious they couldn't. Everything that follows is just a consequence of that.I'm looking for a Pinski(?) quote about SoD where he point's out, "the art guy knew what's up, the lore guy knew WTF happened?" That line has more to do with EQ2's problems than anything else.

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Illuminator

You can have the best itemization ever and the game will still be shit, because it's hollow and because it deals with accumulating Stuff and ever bigger boxes to store this Stuff in. And the raiders are playing Barbie dressup with their stat gears just as much as the crafters with their appearance gear. None of it gives players any epic sense of purpose the way real RPG's always have, and in the end it feels more like work than a cherished trip to the movies.

THAT'S THE FUCKING PROBLEM WITH EQ2.

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Bow down before the one you serve. You're going to get what you deserve.

Deson

EQ2 is a FUCKING ITEM-CENTRIC GAME. The stuff is the fucking point.

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Illuminator

Right now I just wait for Square to remember their calling, to embarrass the fuck out of what all of this has become.

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Bow down before the one you serve. You're going to get what you deserve.

Wormy

Real RPGs? Which real RPGs? Pen and paper games? Because if that's your point, I agree with the statement, but contend that there isn't a simple solution in an MMO environment. And if you're not talking tabletop, where "content" (and I use that term losely) is generated in reaction to player action rather than ahead of it, then what MMO are you crediting with having solved the great online RPG conundrum? Solved: past tense.

Wormy

Epic Sense of Purpose and MMO story arcs are at odds with one another. Oh sure, the first few great relic raids in DAoC felt grand. "We're out to save the realm, men!" But after a while the illusion is as transparent as "Go slaughter 500 Gnolls and prove that you're peace-loving enough to join Qeynos". Making a volcano erupt on Aerfalle made you Ooo and Ahh, until you had to check a chart to see whose turn it was. And Jedi, let's not go there.

The point is, in a controlled environment, where a dozen or less players are falling in love with the role their toon is playing in the grand universal scheme, we feel like demigods. Change that into tens of thousands of players and the fantasy fades unless we create it ourselves. Heckle me all you want, but I believe roleplaying is the only way to enjoy any MMO, long term.

Deson

Found it. Widem starts it off here. Page 13 Gungo posts


That's the problem.

As to lore, the game is bursting with it but the problem with an MMO of EQ2's scope is, how do you make thousands of people playing through all the same stuff feel "epic" all the time? It would be next to impossible to give the game a feel like an non-mmorpg.

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Caswydian

Because the lore is presented in such a passive fashion. While we might talk to an NPC who's played some major part in the history of Norrath, and the quest he gives us might somehow continue that story, the actual quest involves killing 20 of mob x, and running around to get a few clickies, just like every other quest. There's rarely any sense of purpose for why my character would be doing any of the things I do - it seems my only motive is gold and items, regardless if I am a paladin or a brigand.


I'd like to see more of a sense of different factions really taking a role in shaping Norrath - every major expansions and even should have different angles tat the different sides approach it from. In other words, a paladin in service of Qeynos would have one set of quests while a Fey illusionist from Kelethin would have another. While we're both on the 'good' side, we'd likely find ourselves teaming up, but ultimately, we'd have our own objectives.

Another thing that's needed is to have the expansions provide more of an impact on the old world. When DoF was released and Maj'Dul rediscovered, there should have been more of a change to Qeynos and Freeport as people adopt the fashions of this newly-discovered and exotic lands. Different groups should be rushing to do things like set up trade deals and secure alliances - after all, having Maj'Dul as an ally could be very useful for both Qeynos or Freeport.

Finally, world events like the spire building need to be conducted more often and with more significance. Events like that really give players the sense they are having a tangible impact on the fate of the world.

Caswydian

You'd think that SOE, being a division of Sony Pictures, would have access to more film-making techniques and resources than other MMO studios.